“You can’t beat being involved in what’s going on where you live,” Myshall’s Tommy Murphy told KCLR just minutes after our latest edition of ‘Between Towns And Villages’ concluded at The Fighting Cocks bar.
“Being involved in your community is important, no matter what age you are,” he continued.
“But, as far as I’m concerned, it does feel more important to stay part of your community as you get older. It’s very important to know what’s going on around you. The world could get very small otherwise. Myshall is a lovely place to live. It’s such a beautiful village. I’m very proud of it. And sure any time we get a chance to talk about it, sure you have to make the most of it.”
That’s the joy of a programme like ‘Between Towns And Villages’ which last night, focused on the Tullow Municipal District. It has provided KCLR with an opportunity to devote two hours to each of the seven Municipal Districts in Carlow and Kilkenny, giving areas like Myshall, Rathoe and Ballon more airtime.
It has also provided us with an opportunity to flesh out stories which we’ve reported on frequently in recent news bulletins, including Net Zero Energy’s (NZE) proposed long duration energy storage facility at Rathoe.
Last night, we were joined by NZE Chief Executive Peter Harte and Dr David Allen, Chairperson of the Rathoe Community Group, who discussed the proposal when opening the programme.
‘BTAV’ has also provided with an alternative location to our studio or either County Hall when it comes to interacting with County Councillors and Council officials, with Cllrs Charlie Murphy (Ind), Will Paton (Ind) and Ben Ward (FG) joining us last night.
For the record, we had apologies from Cllrs John Pender (FF), Brian O’Donoghue (FG) and Jim Deane (SF) who weren’t in a position to attend the show due to other commitments.
During the first half of the programme, we also got the latest update on the Tullow Credit Union impasse, where we were joined by Gareth Murphy, the Head of Industrial Relations with the Financial Services Union (FSU). The best which can be said on that for now? Watch this space.
The 250th anniversary of the Church of the Holy Cross in Myshall was marked between September 11th and 18th and we were joined by locals Brigid Fox, the aforementioned Tommy Murphy and Sean Keogh to recall a celebratory week.
Here’s the opening hour of last night’s show, which was played out to the sound of the Session Players.
We also learned more about Tullow Youth Project’s fantastic work and the collaborative spirit that endures between Senior Youth Worker Cathy Lillicrap and the project’s young members, many of whom first crossed the Bishop’s House threshold at the age of 12.
A few minutes down the road from the Youth Project stands Tullow’s most distinctive building: the former Methodist Church, built on a ‘floating foundation’, which has housed the Tullow Museum since 1995.
Helen Kavanagh and John Keogh spoke about the treasure trove they’ve developed alongside the River Slaney, which now runs to 3600 individual items, including the vestments of 1798 hero, Father John Murphy. They were joined by author and historian John Kelly, who told us about the infamous 1926 Carlow Senior Football Final between Graiguecullen and Milford, subsequently dubbed ‘The Battle of Rathoe’.
Rural Carlow’s fabulous community spirit was also exemplified by Ballon’s Maire George (Siopa Glas/Ballon Improvement Group), Bernie Mullins and Margaret O’Neill while Mary Doyle of Hacketstown Tidy Towns filled us in on what’s keeping her colleagues energised near the boundary with Wicklow.
Here’s our show’s second hour, which concludes on an uplifting note thanks to the wonderful Wolseley Singers led by Musical Director Gina Hanley and accompanied by Martin Lacey.
‘Between Towns And Villages’ is funded by Coimisiún na Meán’s News Reporting Scheme and the Television Licence Fee.
